Harrow.



J. P. OWENS. HARROW.

APPLIUATION FILED AUG. 20, 1912.

1,068,526. Patented July 29, 1913.

Witnsses Inventor I" ,g o Attorneys pron.

JAMES BQWELL OWE-BISQUE WEATHERFORD, TEXAS.

Ira-snow.

Specification ofLetters Patent.

PatentedJuly 29, 913.

Application filed-August 20-, 1912. Serial No. 716,094;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, JAi nsP. QwnNs, a citizen of the United States,residing at lVeat-herford, in the county ofljarlrer and State of Tex h einv nted a ne a d useful Harrow, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to agricultural apf pliances and moreparticularly to improved means whereby. theroots of'small vegetablegrowths, such as weeds, grass, cotton plants and the like may be out ofelo e to ut l w the surface of'theground, thecutting means being simple,durable an in pensive and offering the minimum resistance to theoperation of the appl n eso hat a arge ma chine can be actuated withcomparatively slight power.

Withthe foregoing and. other objects in view which will appear as thedescri tion proceeds, the invention resides in the com bin-ationandarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment. of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without pa ing om the spirit of the in en on-In the accompanying drawings the preferred. form; of. th invention, a asembod ed in a cotton chopper, has been shown.

In saiddrawings: Figurel is a rear elevation offa cotton chopper,showingthe improvedmeans for cuttifngthe roots of; plants. Fig. 2, isasideelevatiori ofthe cotton chopper. Figs. 3 and4' are perspectiveviews of the spreading means utilized. Fla. 5 is a rear elevation. ofslightly modified structure. Fig. 6 is a transverse section through amodified formof cutting. element.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a.structure made up of any desired arrangement of' bearns suitablyconnected and from which extend handles 2. This structure includes arear cross beam 3 and securedto this cross beam in any suitable mannerare downwardly extendingspring teeth 4 adjustable relative to each otherand each preferably including, at an intermediate point, an eye 5. Thelower end of each tooth is broadened from front to rear, as shown at 6and has a downwardly extending toe 7 In the form of the inventionillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the teeth 4 are arranged in two end pairs.Whi e in e p s d between these pairs is a group of three teeth. Theteeth of each pair are connected by a small but strong wire 8 of steelor any other suitable material, the ends of the wire being wrappedfaboutand securely fastened to toes 7 ofthe teeth. A spreading strip 9 isinterposedbetween the teeth and has notches 10 in its ends toreceiveportions of the teeth. Thisspreading strip is slightly longerv than thedistance between the lower ends of the teeth so that, when the strip isinterposed between the teeth close to the eyes 5, it will spring theteeth laterally and cause them to pull on the wire Sand thus hold ittaut. The central group of teeth 4 is provided with a wire 11 similar tothe wire 8 but which is wrapped about and suitably securedto the toes 7of the three teeth constituting said group. A spreading strip 12 isinterposed between the side teeth of. the group and has notches 13 inits ends for re oeiving portions of said teeth. Another notch '14extends into one edge of the strip 12adj acent its center and isadaptedto receive a portion of the middle tooth of the group, Thus it will beseen that when the strip 12is in place, it will how the end teeth. ofthegroup laterally and cause them to hold the wire 11 taut under allconditions. By'arranging. the teeth in groups as shown, clear spaces areprovided between the groups, as shown at 15. Any suitable a1"- rangementof braces 16 may be extended forwardly from the teeth 4, certain ofthese braces being preferably attaohedto the eyes 5 of the teeth.

It is to be understood that when the de- Vice herein described is to beused for cutting out cotton plants, it is to be drawn transversely ofthe rows of plants and the broad lower ends of theteeth 4 will. plowinto the soil so as to support the wires 8 and 11 below but close to thesurface of the soill Thus, as the appliance is drawn transversely of therows, the wires 8 and 11 which are hold taut, will out through the rootsof the vegetable growths in the paths thereof and only those plants inline with the spaces 15 will remain standing. Thus, by adjusting theteeth 4 toward or from each other the distances between the spaces canbe varied at will and the size of said spaces can be controlled. Also,if desired, any other suitable groupings of teeth can be employed, itmerely being necessary, in every instance to have the wires str ng tentat the points necessary in order to out along the proper path.

In Fig. 5 two teeth 17 have been shown and it will be seen, by referringto said figure, that the eyes 18 of the teeth are so located that thespacing or spreading strip 19 can bear downwardly, at its ends, upon theeyes and thus be held against downward displacement. This arrangement ofparts can be followed out in the construction shown in Fig. 1.Furthermore, if desired, an implement having but two teeth can be usedsuch an implement being particularly designed for use in cultivatingbetween rows, as where the plants, for example, Indian corn, are toohigh for the beam 3 to pass over them without breaking the plants.

It is to be understood that wires held taut in the manner described canbe used as substitutes for various types of shovels and like implementsnow in use and is advantageous for the reason that, as a very smallsurface is presented to the soil, the appliance can be more readilydrawn than one utilizing shovels and similar implements having broadactive surfaces. Instead of using ordinary wire, a thin strip orflattened wire, such as shown in Fig. 6 may be utilized.

What is claimed is 1. An agricultural appliance including spring teeth,a flexible connection between the lower ends thereof and constituting acutting element, and spreading means interposed between the teeth andconstituting means for holding the connection taut.

2. An agricultural appliance including spring teeth, a flexibleconnection between the lower ends thereof and constituting a cuttingelement, and means interposed between the teeth for bowing themlaterally to exert a constant pull upon the connection and to hold ittaut.

3.. An agricultural appliance including spring teeth having outwardlyextending toes at their soil engaging ends, a flexible connectionbetween said toes and constituting means for cutting roots close to andbelow the surface of the soil, and spreading means interposed betweenthe teeth for bowing the teeth and holding the connection taut.

4. An agricultural appliance including spring teeth having toes at theirsoil engaging ends, a flexible connection between said toes andconstituting means for cutting roots close to and below the surface ofthe soil, and spreading means interposed between the teeth for bowingtheteeth and holding the connection taut.

5. An agricultural appliance including spring teeth having toes at theirsoil engaging ends, a flexible connection between said toes andconstituting means for cutting roots close to and below the surface ofthe soil, and spreading means interposed between the teeth for bowingthe teethand holding the connection taut, said spreading means havingnotched terminals for the reception of the teeth.

6. An agricultural appliance including spring teeth having toes at theirsoil engaging ends, a flexible connection between said toes andconstituting means for cutting roots close to and below the surface ofthe soil, and spreading means interposed between the teeth for bowingthe teeth and holding the connect-ion taut, each of said. teethincluding eyes, said spreading means bearing downwardly upon the eyes.

7. An agricultural appliance including a structure, spring teethdepending therefrom and including eyes, a flexible connec-- tion betweenthe lower ends of the teeth, said connection constituting means forcutting under and close to the surface of the soil, a spreading deviceinterposed between and adapted to how the teeth laterally to hold theconnection taut, and braces connecting said structure to the eyes.

8. A cotton chopper including spaced groups of spring teeth, a flexibleconnection between the teeth of each group, said connectionsconstituting cutting elements, and

spreading means interposed between the teeth of each group for bowingthe teeth laterally and holding the connection taut.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES POWELL ownns.

Vitnesses:

JAMES J OHNSON, W. R. HAWKINS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

